Chapter 62
Chapter 62:
Time ticked by, and Alcott, growing impatient with the silence and absence of Aiden and Janice, flew into a fury. “How dare they! Are they hiding because they’re guilty? Get them in front of me now!”
The servants hesitated, sharing uncertain looks. Janice’s earlier audacity had left them wary, but Alcott’s authoritative demand now emboldened them.
Just as they mustered the courage to ascend the stairs, Janice emerged, pushing Aiden’s wheelchair forward.
“Honey, I know you’re upset, but your parents are furious. We need to face them now to avoid making things worse,” Janice murmured, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she steered him towards the elevator.
Aiden, catching her subtle wink, exhaled in exasperation yet played along. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like it’ll kill me.”
Nina stood, her eyes filled with concern. “Aiden, what’s wrong?” With a puzzled scowl, Bart glanced between Aiden and Janice, suspicious of whatever they were plotting this time.
The elevator dinged on the first floor, and Janice and Aiden got out.
Nina’s face drained of color at the sight of him. “Aiden, what happened to you?”
Aiden looked rather pitiful with all the bruises on his handsome face.
“It’s all my fault for not protecting Aiden properly,” Janice said, pretending to wipe tears away and sounding aggrieved. “I went out early this morning to run errands, so he was left home alone. Then when I returned, I saw…” She deliberately trailed off and glanced at Bart. “I don’t dare to say.”
“Tell me!” Nina snapped, her gaze turning icy. “You have my support. If someone wronged you, I will see to it that justice is served.”
Bart soon realized that things were going south for him. He opened his mouth to interject, but he was a second too late.
“I saw Bart beating Aiden up!”
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“What?” Nina whirled around and pinned Bart with a vicious glare. “Didn’t you say that it was Aiden and Janice who beat you? Just what in the world is going on here?”
“No, I didn’t!” Bart said, revealing a pitiful and helpless expression.
But before he could defend himself further, Janice burst into tears. “Right, Bart didn’t hit Aiden. He’s so kind, after all. He even bought Aiden a cake. Of course, there’s no way he would raise a hand against his brother. I must have seen it wrong! Aiden must have fallen on his own.”
Bart’s ears were ringing. He knew then that his original ploy of feigning injury had lost all its meaning.
The tables had turned, with Janice and Aiden now being the victims, while he was the aggressor. He was left at quite a loss. His plan was simple enough—he was going to use the oldest trick in the book to gain Alcott and Nina’s sympathy and have them on his side. Now, however, it was clear that he had only suffered in vain, without gaining anything at all.
“Come on, Aiden. Tell us, what really happened? Is Janice telling the truth?” Nina asked Aiden in an urgent tone.
Aiden pressed his lips in a thin line and glanced over at Janice, who was frantically making eyes at him in a silent message. He had never employed such tactics before, and in all honesty, he felt a pang of shame at having to resort to it. But Janice had gone to great lengths to get them to this point. He couldn’t possibly put her well intentions to waste.
“Mom, the injuries on my face… I got them when I fell on my own.”
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